


Fortifications

by Exxact



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon Gender Changes, F/F, Gen, Kirk and McCoy Bonding Time, Parallel Lives Comic-Verse, Pining James T. Kirk, Rated T for Bones and Scotty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exxact/pseuds/Exxact
Summary: Jane groans, wringing the ice pack in her hands.  “Shouldn’t you be off torturing Chapel?  Or wrist-deep in Scotty?”Lea is sure to make her next tug especially sharp.  “She’s finally asleep in your observation lounge and I’m not interrupting that.  Besides, you’re the one who barged in here and screamed at me to ‘make me beautiful, Bones, and that’s an order!’ like it was an actual emergency.”“It is!  It’s officially been two months to the day since Spock and Nnamdi broke up and I’m meeting Spock in an hour and I need to let her know I’m eligible so—“Lea cuts her off with a snort and a final tug.  “Real classy, Jane.”“You’re the one who told me to wait that long!”Jane Kirk enlists her best friend to help her prepare for a very significant chess date.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Respectful Spuhura Breakup Mentioned
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	Fortifications

“Bones, this is —ow!”

Lea grins, readjusting the tweezers in her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave a few hairs for personality.”

Jane groans, wringing the ice pack in her hands. “Shouldn’t you be off torturing Chapel? Or wrist-deep in Scotty?”

Lea is sure to make her next tug especially sharp. “She’s finally asleep in your observation lounge and I’m not interrupting that. Besides, you’re the one who barged in here and screamed at me to ‘make me beautiful, Bones, and that’s an order!’ like it was an actual emergency.”

“It is! It’s officially been two months to the day since Spock and Nnamdi broke up and I’m meeting Spock in an hour and I need to let her know I’m eligible so—“ 

Lea cuts her off with a snort and a final tug. “Real classy, Jane.”

“You’re the one who told me to wait that long!”

Lea doesn’t have the grace (or patience) to look embarrassed as she shoves the ice pack against Jane’s forehead. “It was a _guideline_. And look how well it worked out for me when I listened to my mother and tried it!”

Jane uses her free hand to grab her mostly-full brandy glass, drinking it down like Lea might snatch it away. “Besides,” Lea adds, lifting her own, “don’t you think she’s already aware that you’re on the market?”

“But I need to make her more aware. I want to walk onto the bridge tomorrow and declare in no uncertain terms that I’m hers and she’s mine and nothing in the universe will pry us apart!” 

Lea’s sputtering laugh is nearly sharp enough to crack the mirror behind Jane. “And you’re asking _me_ of all people for advice on locking down a Vulcan? Try getting pregnant after the second date, I guess. Foolproof from experience.”

Jane sighs, finishing her drink while Lea considers her own. “I need _good_ advice, Bones.”

The hitch of Jane’s voice catches against Lea’s ears, and she takes a drink before responding. “Well, sometimes it catches you by surprise. Sometimes it’s the moment itself that does it, not the words. You see the same person every day and you’re glad to see them, but you don’t put two and two together until you just—until you just do. I’m not sure how a chess match sets the scene for that, but then again, you’re Jane Kirk. You’ll find a way or make one the rest of us couldn’t see if our lives depended on it.”

Jane hums to keep herself from thinking, running a hand through her hair. She hasn’t had time to bleach it this month and it brushes closer to her jaw than she likes. “Uh, thanks for the eyebrows. I can do my roots myself, so—“

This time, the laugh that cuts Jane off is low, wicked. “Oh no, it’s replicated lemon juice and a blow dryer for you. I’m not listening to you piss and moan about bleach burns for the hundredth time.”

“That’ll take forever!”

“Good. We’ll slap a face mask on you and maybe by then you’ll relax enough to not terrify Spock. Not entirely sure she _can_ be terrified, but that’s beside the point.”

“Fine. Just as long as it isn’t one of those old lady ones. They make me all sticky.”

“' _A beautiful skin is the foundation of the modern woman’s appearance_ ,'” Lea coos in her best trans-Atlantic accent as she wipes Jane’s face clean before handing her a jar of clay paste.

Jane turns to face herself in the mirror, setting down the icepack with a wince. She examines the carnage done upon her eyebrows, which now look far too much like her best friend’s own for her comfort. _Wait—does that mean that Bones plucks her eyebrows?_

“How do you even know how to do half this stuff?” Jane calls out as she slathers the mask over her nose and forehead. It smells aggressively of lavender. “All you did at the Academy was brush your teeth and shave. Honestly, I was just expecting you to toss me an old lipstick and tell me to use protection.”

“Because I’m a veritable flower of traditional Southern womanhood,” Lea snaps, her voice softening after she returns to Jane, wiping a gob of clay off of her thigh. “And, well, I used to do the works at Ole Miss every month with a bottle of peach schnapps. It’s always reminded me of my nana and my ma. Probably trained my hands early on to be steady, doing all of that with them.”

_I’m giving you something I know you never had._ The unspoken words fall so heavily on Jane’s shoulders that she can’t think of a quip back. Instead, she looks down at the floor from where she’s perched on the sink, swinging her feet back and forth. _Maybe I’ll come back after and ask her to soak them with me._

“What’s all this now?” Jane hears Scotty exclaim, what she can only imagine are her boots landing with a thud next to Lea. “It smells like my aunt’s third wedding in here, lass.”

“Watch it!”

“I’m sorry, love. But really, what’re you getting up to with that perfume rubbish and that spray bottle?”

Lea reappears with said bottle in hand, Scotty’s arms wrapped around her waist. “Jane here’s off to play chess and seduce her first officer now that she’s been single for two months to the hour.”

Scotty whistles, bumping her hip against Lea’s. “Ms. Spock and Mr. Uhuro—they’re finished? Well, how about that, now.”

“Hardly worthy of that reaction,” Lea grunts, spraying Jane’s bangs with one hand while turning on the hairdryer with the other. “I’m not breaking confidentiality from those ridiculous evals the admiralty had me give them, but it’s safe to say it was mutual.”

“But lass, why didn’t you tell me?”

Scotty punctuates her question with a pat on the rear that would (rightfully) land anyone else on the wrong end of a bone regenerator and a pants-shittingly terrifying lecture. Instead, Jane watches open-mouthed as Bones blushes. “Because it’s none of my damn business. The only reason it sticks in my brain is because this one here and Chris won’t stop fawning over them like teenagers!”

“Mr. Chapel and Mr. Uhuro? Oh, that would be a handsome couple there, indeed.” 

“Marjie, tell that to Chris the next time I’m too busy with an outbreak—“

_That’s it._ “‘ _Marjie_ ’?” Jane whoops, barely dodging the hairdryer. “You just called her ‘Marjie’ and you weren’t even being sarcastic! Or drunk!”

“Well, _Janey_ , you were so quiet while the adults talked that I forgot you were there.”

Jane puts a fluttering hand over her heart. “You wound me, Bones.”

“Yeah, and then I have to patch you up and you do it again the next day. Raw deal if you ask me, but hey, at least these highlights aren’t brassy so far.”

“I’ll be sure to come by later and tell you if Spock wants you to do hers once she sees them.” 

“Oh, no you won’t. I’m finishing this off and going to bed. Don’t wake me up unless that Vulcan decks you hard enough to rupture something.”

Jane doesn’t allow her smile to falter as she turns to Scotty, the question clear in her eyes. 

“My shift’s starting in an hour,” Scotty sighs, her voice surprisingly close to disappointment. “But don’t be a stranger—there’s always room for you down there to tinker with our girl, Captain.”

Jane’s grin is genuine now. “She’s a demanding one, isn’t she?”

“Aye, but I swear she knows when she’s got her Captain’s full attention.”

Lea aims the hairdryer directly at Jane’s face. “How about you wash that mask off now so I can squeeze in a haircut? It's too hot in here for me to be waving this thing around for too long.”

Scotty quickly disentangles herself from Lea, perching on the side of the tub. “Oh, I need to see this. I’ve been asking for her to trim mine for weeks now!”

Lea unplugs the hairdryer, tossing it in a cabinet that also holds what looks like a distillery. “I’m usually too busy using the dermal regen on those legs of yours.” 

Scotty crosses said legs, offering a peek of the black shorts beneath her skant. “Or between ‘em!”

Jane’s shout cracks the dried clay on her face, making her forget for a moment the knot in her heart that wishes, more than anything, to see the same love that passes between her friends in Spock’s eyes when she finally has the courage to pursue it.

**Author's Note:**

> —This has been a WIP since March and considering my track record with years-old unfinished fics, I decided to post this as-is. I may integrate it into a larger work, but for now, I hope you enjoy!  
> —While this is set in the Parallel Lives comic-verse, I pictured thali.lemmonpie’s designs for these characters while writing.


End file.
